This blog features observations from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. Send news items or comments to rturner229@hotmail.com

Tuesday, August 04, 2015

Teacher fired after allowing kids to drink, two killed in accident

The Dallas County R-1 Board of Education fired elementary teacher Jennifer Sharp, who was accused of allowing students to party at her home and drink alcohol. Two of the teens died later that evening in a drunk driving accident.

The students, Christian Helm and Holden Beck were killed June 29 2014. Kristi Swearingen, Beck's mother, gave the teens the alcohol, according to court records, then Sharp allowed them to drink it at her home.

During her hearing, she claimed she did not know the teens were drinking.

Both Beck and Helm were from Urbana. They died on June 29th, 2014. Beck was 17 and Helm was 15. According to the report from the highway patrol, a car driven by Beck ran off Mill Street in Urbana, crashed into a tree, a mailbox and a fire hydrant, then flipped over several times and hit more trees. A passenger was also hurt in the wreck.

Prosecutors have charged Sharp with two misdemeanors, endangering the welfare of a child and supplying liquor to a minor. Her trial is scheduled for November. Swearengin is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, which is a felony. Her trial was moved to Benton County.

Sharp had been teaching in Dallas County for 12 years. Prior to that, she ran a day care center for five years.

About Me

I am a former teacher in the Joplin and Diamond, Missouri, school districts. Before entering the teaching field, I spent 22 years as a reporter and editor for various Southwest Missouri newspapers. I have published three novels, Small Town News, Devil's Messenger, and No Child Left Alive, and seven non-fiction books, The Turner Report, Newspaper Days, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption, and the Joplin Tornado, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Scars from the Tornado and Let Teachers Teach.

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